The Rutles

The Rutles (The pre-fab four), a parody of The Beatles was created by Eric Idle with songs composed by Neil Innes.

The Band

The Rutles members in "All You Need Is Cash" were:

Ron Nasty -- a Lennon figure - played by Neil Innes
Dirk McQuickly -- McCartney - played by Eric Idle (singing voice is Ollie Halsall)
Stig O'Hara -- George - played by Ricky Fataar
Barry Wom -- Ringo - played by John Halsey
(Hamburg only) "Leppo, the fifth Rutle" -- Stu Sutcliffe - played by Ollie Halsall

The Rutles members on Rutland Weekend Television and Saturday Night Live were

Ron Nasty -- played by Neil Innes
Dirk McQuickly -- played by Eric Idle
Stig O'Hara -- played by David Battley
Kevin -- Pete Best - played by John Halsey

There is some confusion over the names and actors; Kevin was supposedly the name of the drummer, yet the SNL version calls him Barry. Also, Eric Idle was labeled as Dirk in the SNL version, while his memoirs identify him as playing Stig.

On the "Archaeology", Neil, Barry, and Rikki used their real names. The late Ollie Halsall also appeared, as some songs were outtakes from the 1978 sessions.

Their History (Actual)

The Rutles began life in 1975 as a sketch on Eric Idle's BBC television series Rutland Weekend Television. Rutland was the smallest county in England until the local government re-organization of 1974 when it literally ceased to exist (it has since been restored). Eric Idle found it amusing to suggest that he was the face of a mock broadcasting company run from this insignificant rural location. (The name is a pun on the real television broadcaster London Weekend Television; London being covered by two ITV franchises. Any Rutland TV station would be pretty small, so a Rutland Weekend Television would have to be ridiculously tiny.)

The initial sketch presented Neil Innes fronting The Rutles singing "I Must Be In Love", a masterful pastiche of some of the early Lennon-McCartney tunes. As part of the merchandising material produced for the TV series references were made to a Rutles album ("Finchley Road") and a single ("Ticket To Rut"). In 1976 BBC Records produced The Rutland Weekend Songbook, an album containing 23 tracks including two Rutles songs "I Must Be In Love" and "The Children of Rock and Roll" (later reworked as "Good Times Roll").

Two years later when Eric Idle was asked to appear on the American NBC show 'Saturday Night' (later to become Saturday Night Live), he took along Neil Innes and incorporated some of the Rutles material into one or two sketches. The material proved to be extremely popular and a suggestion that he produce a lengthier programme led to the 1978 mockumentary film "All You Need Is Cash". The film purports to be a documentary on the rise and fall of the band paralleling much of the history of the Beatles. George Harrison makes a cameo appearance in the film as a TV interviewer and a number of well known comedians including Michael Palin, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd also appear. The cast also includes Bianca Jagger as one of the Rutles girlfriends, Ron Wood as a Hell's Angel, and Mick Jagger and Paul Simon as themselves. The programme is notable for bringing together British and American comic talent in a way that has seldom happened before or since. A 66-minute syndicated version was available for some time on video and DVD but has since been superseded by a restored 72-minute version.

Rutles albums (real)

A soundtrack album entitled The Rutles containing a number of tongue-in-cheek pastiches of Beatles' songs was also released. The cover art of the album suggested the existence of a number of other Rutles albums including "Tragical History Tour" and "Let it Rot". The album contains some obvious send-ups of Beatles numbers such as "Ouch!" ("Help!") and "Doubleback Alley" ("Penny Lane"). However, its real tribute is in its subtly layered blending of elements from many classic Lennon-McCartney tunes. Multiple listenings are required to discern all the sources referenced in titles, lyrics, melodies, and song structures (the former two mainly the province of Innes, the latter two mainly of Halsall). The uncanny replication of the Beatles "sound" was also due in large part to Halsall. Were it not for the inherently ironic lyrics, it might be difficult to distinguish the songs from true Beatles numbers. The original LP album omitted several songs which were restored on the 1990 CD reissue.

The Rutles (1978)

Goose-Step Mama (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:18 (not on LP)
Number One (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:52
Baby Let Me Be (Nasty/McQuickly) - 1:57 (not on LP)
Hold My Hand (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:11 (shorter than on LP)
Blue Suede Schubert (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:13 (not on LP)
I Must Be in Love (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:06
With a Girl Like You (Nasty/McQuickly) - 1:53
Between Us (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:03 (not on LP)
Living in Hope (Womble) - 2:39
Ouch! (Nasty/McQuickly) - 1:52
It's Looking Good (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:02 (not on LP)
Doubleback Alley (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:57
Good Times Roll (Nasty/McQuickly) - 3:05
Nevertheless (O'Hara) - 1:29
Love Life (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:52
Piggy in the Middle (Nasty/McQuickly) - 4:11
Another Day (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:13
Cheese and Onions (Nasty/McQuickly) - 2:42
Get Up and Go (Nasty/McQuickly) - 3:19 (not on LP)
Let's Be Natural (Nasty/McQuickly) - 3:22

The band reunited (without Eric Idle) in the mid-1990s for a few one-off gigs and in 1996, a second album, The Rutles Archaeology, a send-up of the Beatles' six-disc Anthology was released. Most of the tracks on this album spoof the Sgt. Pepper period of the Beatles. (In fact many were not specifically written as Rutles songs, but were adapted to fit.)

The Rutles Archaeology (1996)

Major Happy's Up and Coming Once Upon a... (Innes)
Rendezvous (Innes)
Questionnaire (Innes)
We've Arrived! (And to Prove It We're Here) (Innes)
Lonely-Phobia (Innes)
Unfinished Words (Innes)
Hey Mister! (Innes)
Easy Listening (Innes)
Now She's Left You (Innes)
The Knicker Elastic King (Innes)
I Love You (Innes)
Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik (Innes)
Joe Public (Innes)
Shangri-La (Innes)
Don't Know Why (Innes)
Back in '64 (Innes)

The Japanese version includes 4 bonus tracks: "Lullaby", "Baby S'il Vous Plait", "It's Looking Good" (rehearsal), and "My Little Ukelele".

Bootlegs

Bootlegs include "Hard Days Rut", "Rehearsal", "Sweet Rutle Tracks", "Rutles To Let", "Sgt Rutters Only Darts Club Band", and "Rutland's Rare Rutles Revisited." More information on these can be found at bootlegzone.com.

Other Rutles albums (fictitious)

Meet The Rutles

 (Parlourphone, 1963 - released in the UK as "Please Rut Me")
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Please Rut Me
 Rut Me Do
 Hold My Hand
 Blue Suede Schubert

With The Rutles

 (Parlourphone, 1963)

A Hard Day's Rut

 (movie soundtrack - Parlourphone, 1964)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 A Hard Day's Rut
 I Must Be In Love
 With A Girl Like You
 Between Us
 Can't Buy Me Lunch

Rutles For Sale

 (Parlourphone, 1964)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Living In Hope

Ouch!

 (movie soundtrack - Aristophone/IOU, 1965)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Ouch!
 Ticket To Rut

Rutle Soul

 (Parlourphone, 1965 - released in the US as "Rubbery Mole": Capatol, 1966)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 It's Looking Good

Revolter

 (Parlourphone, 1966)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Yellow Submarine Sandwich
 Plenty Of Time
 Got To Get You Into My Rut

Yesterday, Tomorrow, And Lunchtimes

 (US only - Capatol, 1966)

Travolta

 (unreleased concept album, 1966)

Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band

 (Parlourphone, 1967)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band
 Lucy In Disguise With Rutles
 Good Times Roll
 Nevertheless
 Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band (reprise)

Tragical History Tour

 (movie soundtrack - Parlourphone, 1967)
 SIDE ONE
 Tragical History Tour
 The Fool On The Pill
 Lying
 Blue Gay Way
 Your Mother Should Go
 I Am The Waitress

 SIDE TWO
 Hello Get Lost
 W.C. Fields Forever
 Denny Lane
 Abie You're A Rich Man
 All You Need Is Lunch

The Rutles (aka "The Shite Album")

 (double album - Rutle, 1968)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 While My Guitarist Gently Sleeps
 Happiness Is A Warm Gun
 Another Day

Yellow Submarine Sandwich

 (movie soundtrack - Rutle, 1969)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Yellow Submarine Sandwich
 Cheese And Onions
 All You Need Is Lunch

Get Up And Go

 A lost album, which became "Let It Rot".  Prototypes of songs that were 
 later to appear on "Let It Rot" and "Shabby Road" were recorded, as well
 as "Lullaby" and a cover of an obscure Japanese folk song called "Don't 
 Worry Kyoko", among others.

Shabby Road

 (Rutle, 1969)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Let's Be Natural
 Here Comes My Son
 The Lunch You Make

Let It Rot

 (Rutle, 1970)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 Let It Rot
 Get Up And Go

White Dopes On Punk

 (by Dirk McQuickly & the Punk Floyd - Rutle, 1970's)

When You Find The Girl Of Your Dreams In The Arms Of Some Scotsmen From Hull

 (by Barry Wom - Rutle, 1970's)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 When You Find The Girl Of Your Dreams In The Arms Of Some 
  Scotsmen From Hull

Finchley Road

 (posthumous - NSU, 1976)
 SONGS INCLUDE:
 A Ticket To Rut

Additional Information

The Rutles corps logo is a banana.

It should be noted that the Rutles came before the age of tribute bands.

Despite the bonus tracks, "The Rutles" CD has one song edited: "Hold My Hand", which opened the LP, originally had a sound-effects intro.

Nasty went on to form a post-Rutles band as well: the Plastic Ono Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. They've only been mentioned once: in a 1996 article about the "Archaeology" in Goldmine.

The 1978 rehearsals have been bootlegged, and feature several interesting oddities, including "Piggy In The Middle" with the lyrics that appear in the LP's liners, and a never-released track called "Plenty Of Time" (a cover of a song by Grimms).

It's possible that an upcoming book, "We Love the Rutles", could be released - the author just has to find a publisher willing to carry it.